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Patented Sept. 28

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J. B. RATHBUN 86 E. A. BURGESS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

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JAMES B. RATHBUN AND EDlVARI) A. BURGESS, OF NE\V HAVEN, CONN.; SAID BURGESS ASSlGNOR TO SAID RATHBUN.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,954, dated September 28, 1886.

Serial No. 207,737.

(No model.)

To (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES B. RATIIBUN and EDWARD A. BURGESS, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Railway-Signals; and we do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a face view of one station apparatus, and Fig. 2, a face view of the other station apparatus, the connection between the two represented as broken; Fig. 3, a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a modification of the connecting-rod E and slide F at their point of connection, enlarged Fi 6, the counter-balance S and lever T at their point of connection, enlarged.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of railway-signals such as are employed in what is commonly known as the block systemthat is to say, a signal at a given pointwhich may be brought into a danger or warning position as the train passes that point, and which will be thrown out of such warning position as the train passes a given point at a distance in advance, and so that the engineer of the next succeeding train, seeing the signal in the warning position, will know that there is a train on the next block, and that he must stand at that point until the preceding train has passed from the block and thrown the danger-signal out of the danger position.

One of the most common and approved signal devices is a colored disk,which is thrown up into danger position or dropped when there is no danger but under the more general construction of the apparatus for operating this signal the passing train raises it, and if the train be in rapid motion the force applied is very quick and the momentum to the rising signal very great, or acomplicatedmechanism is employed which is liable to be thrown out of order.

The object of our invention is, principally,

a simple device for operating the signal, and whereby it is thrown into place by gravity only, and consequently its rise made easy; and it consists in the constructionol' the apparatus as hereinafter described, and more particularly recited in the claims.

A represents a post, which is fixed at the end of one section, or wherever it is desirable that the signal of warning or danger should be given. B represents the outside rail passing this station; (I, a lever, which is hungupon a fulcrum, D, one arm extending close up to the rail, and so that in its normal position it is slightly above the face of the rail, and so that the passing wheel may strike that arm of the lever and depress it, as usual in this class of apparatus. The other arm extends toward the post, and to this arm a vertically-guided rod, E, is hung.

Above the rod E is a slide, F, arranged in guides G free for vertical movement. At its lower end it is made tubular, and so that the upper end of the rod E may rest in said tubular portion, as seen in Fig. 5, but so that as the rod E is raised, under the action of the le ver 0, by the passing train such rising of the rod E will correspondingly raise the rod F.

On the post in suitable bearings a shaft, H, is arranged, upon one end of which is a toothed wheel or ratchet, l, and on the vertical slide F is a pawl, J, working in the plane of the wheel I, and so that it may engage the teeth thereon. This ratchet is held as hereinafter described, and so that as the slide F rises, under the action of the passing train, the pawl will pass over the teeth of the ratchet, and when at its highest position will engage a tooth of the ratchet I, and so as to hold the slide in that elevated position, while the rod E may fall back with the lever O, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 5, and so that the numerous vibrations which are given to the lever O by the passing wheels of the train will have no eft'ectupon the slide F, that being raised by the first wheel passing the lever, and held by the pawl in that raised position.

K represents the signal-disk, which is fixed to a lever, L, hung upon a pivot, M. At the pivot the lever extends at right angles to form the second arm, N, of the lever, and to this second arm a rod, 1?, is hung, connecting with a bell-crank lever, B, and to which lever B a weighted rod or counter-balance, S, is hung, extending downward. The weight of the counter-balance S is sufiicient to overbalance the disk K, and so thatifthe weightS be free it will turn the bell-crank lever B and correspondingly raise the disk, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4; but if the weight be held up, then the disk remains in its down position, as shown in Fig. 4. Beneath the weight is one arm of a'lever, T, hung upon a fulcrum, U, on the post. The other arm of the lever T extends into connection with the slide F, as seen in Fig. 2, and so that as the slide F is raised it will turn the arm of the lever in connection with it upward and the other arm downward, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 2. (Also seen in Fig. 6.) \Vhen the leverTis in its up position, it standsbeneath and so as to support the weight S in its up position, and consequently the disk in its down position; but so soon as the slide F is raised and the lever T turned from beneath the weight S, then the weight S is free to fall, and by its own gravity causes the disk to rise. The action of gravity is so slow that the movement of the disk is easy and natural, and not of a character to give it any extent of momentum; hence there is no possibility of disarranging it or its connecting mechanism. The disk will stand in its up position so long as the lever T is turned away from the weight, and this will be solong as the slide F is held up by its engagement with the ratchet I; but so soon as the ratchet I is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow the slide F will fall by its own gravity with it, and so force the disk back to its raised or normal position. The slide F should be made sufficiently heavy to raise the counterbalance S, either in itselfor by an active force attached thereto. At the opposite end of the block or point where the signal may be dropped the disengaging apparatus is arranged, and this may be of any character which will impart to the ratchet I sufiicient rotation to permit the slide F to fall. To thus automatically turn the ratchet I, we provide a post, a, on which is a grooved pulley, b, and from which an endless band, d, extends onto a correspondinglygrooved pulley, e, on the shaft H,which carries the ratchet I; Below the ratchet and at the foot of the post a is a toothed ratchet, f, on the axis of which a lever, g, is hung, carrying one or more pawls, 71., adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet f. The lever g is arranged in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the passing rail, and from the leverga lover, 1', extends to the passing rail B, as seen in Fig. 3, and so that a train passing that point will depress the end of the lever *5 next the rail and correspondingly raise the lever g, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 1,

and impart to the ratchet a corresponding rotation.

On the shaft of the ratchet fis a grooved pulley, Z, from which an endless band, at,

runs over a corresponding pulley, 11,011 the shaft of the pulley b, so that the rotation of the ratchet, imparted through the lever G, is imparted to the pulley b, and thence transferred to the pulley e and the ratchet I. Therefore, when the train has passed the first sta tion and raised the signal, as before described, it goes on until it arrives at the next station, and there,acting upon the lever Lturns the respective pulleys and the ratchet I in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig; 2, which will permit the slide F to fall and raise the weight S, which had before causedthe signal to rise, and will consequently turn that sig nal down to its normal position. The continued turning of the ratchetf, under the action of the passing train will of course communicate rotation to the ratchet I, thus insuring the full descent of the slide F, and when it shall have reached its down position, so as to again rest upon the rod E, then any further rotation of the ratchet I, under the action of the train passing the next station, will simply cause it to escape from the pawl J on the slide F. r

While it is convenient, and we prefer to arrange the pulley b on ashaf t above the ratch et, it will be understood that it may be upon the same shaft as the ratchet, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 1, it only being essential that the rotation of the ratchet f shall be communicated to theratchet I, under the action of the train passing that station. As the distance between the two stations of asection is so great, the expansion and contraction of the endless band, under changes in the atmosphere, will be so considerable that it is desirable to apply a compensator. To this end the post a is hung upon a pivot at its lower end-say the shaft upon which the ratchet f is hungand so that the shaftmay swing back and'forth in a plane parallel with. the endless band,and to the post a weight, 6, is hungsay over a pulley, t--the tendency of which is to draw the post a from the post of the next station A, but yield to any considerable tension "upon the bandinthat direction.

The signaling mechanism may be used as a single station without connection with the distant station, in which case the signal will be automatically raised, and will so stand until mechanically returned. This part of the invention is not, therefore, to be understood as limited to a connection with a distant station.

1. In a signaling apparatus, the combination of a lever, 0, extending transversely from the rail to the station, a vertical slide, F, a rod, E, extending from the said lever O to a point heneath but in line with said slide F, and'whereby the upward movement of the said rod E may be imparted to said slide F, the said slide detached from the rod E, a ratchet fixed with relation to said slide and a pawl on said slide adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet, a signal hung upon a lever and a counter-balance hung to said lever, under the action of which IIO counter-balance, when free, the said signal will rise, and mechanism between said conn ter-balance and said vertical slide F, substantially as specified, and whereby in the ascent of said slide F the counter-balance is released, and under the fall of the said slide F the counterbalance is raised.

2. In asignaling apparatus, the combination of a lever, 0, extending transversely from the rail, a vertical slide, F, a rod, E, extending from the said lever G to a point beneath but in line with said slide F, and whereby the upward movement of the said rod E will be imparted to said slide F, the said slide detached from the rod E, a ratchet fixed with relation to said slide and a pawl on said slide adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet, a signal hung upon alever and a counter-balance hung to said lever, under the action of which counterbalance, when free, the said signal will rise, and mechanism between said counter-balance and said vertical slide F, substantially such as described, whereby in the ascent of said slide F the counter-balance is released, and under the fall of the said slide F the counter-balance is raised, with a second lever at a distant station from the rail, and mechanism, substantially such as described, between said second lever and the said ratchet, substantially as specified, and whereby as the train passes the first station the said slide will be raised and engaged with said ratchet, and the said ratchet rotated as the train passes the next lever by said mechanism connecting the said second lever with said ratchet.

u. The combination of the lever G, vertical slide F, conneeting'rod .ll, ratchet l, pawl J between said slide and ratchet, a pulley, c, on said ratchet-shaft, the lever .L, arrying the signal, the counter-balance S, hung to said lever L, lever Kl, one arm in connection with said slide F, and the other adapted to support and release said counter-balance, and a second pulley, b, at a distant station, with a band connecting the said two pulleys, and a second lever at said second station adapted to impart rotation to said second pulley, b, substantially as described.

4. In a block-signal for railways, the pulley c at one station, adapted to disengage the signal at that station, a pulley, I, at the next stalion, hung upon a post adapted to swing in a plane parallel with the plane of the pulleys, a counterbalancing-weight, the tendency of which is to draw the second pulley from the first, an endless band connecting said pulleys, and theleverat said second station, with mechanism, substantially such as described, between it and the said second pulley, whereby rotation is imparted to said second pulley, and thence to the first pulley, while the said counter-balance maintains the requisite tension upon said band.

JAMES B. RATHBUN. EDVARD A. BURGESS.

\Vi tn esses:

FRET) U. EARLE, J. H. SHUMWAY. 

